Kwaito star dies

Cape Town - Reports that kwaito star Brown Dash has died, have been confirmed on Wednesday evening.

Celebrity condolences flooded social networking sites Twitter and Facebook after rumours that the 33-year-old artist, whose real name was Simphiwe Mpamile, had died.

The New Zimbabwe website said on Wednesday evening that asked on Twitter if news of Brown Dash’s death was true, Metro FM DJ Oscar Mdlongwa replied: "It's true.”

Earlier, Wontod reported that there were unconfirmed reports that he had committed suicide.

Brown Dash's death comes eight years, to the day, that legend Brenda Fassie died. He had been unwell for quite some time.

The news came hot on the heels of his recent performance at Mzansi’s biggest music night at the South African Music Awards, when he joined fellow kwaito musos Mandla “Spikiri” Mofokeng, Bricks, Skhokho and Madluphutu to perform the hit Ngeke Balunge.

The singer cut a frail yet exuberant figure and he sang and danced along for the cheering crowd, City Press reported.

Brown Dash – so named because of his love for brown car dashboards – shot to stardom in 2002 as the vocal talent that sang alongside the masked Mzekezeke who ruled the charts with the hit, Sguqa Ngamadolo.

His debut album, Umthandazo Wabolova, won him Best Kwaito Album at the 2005 Sama Awards.

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